Waterlily
by hmionegrangr
Summary: When Prince James is found on the shore, days after he was believed to have died in a shipwreck, it was called a miracle. But he knew it was no miracle. It was her; brilliant green eyes, berry-coloured hair and the scales of a vivid green tail. A mermaid.
1. Siren Song

**A/N: Jily AU of The Little Mermaid, using pieces of the original plot rather than the disney adaptation.**

* * *

Long strands of sea weed shivered on her body as she swam downwards, deeper and deeper into the ocean. Locks of blood red hair billowed in the water as she glided through the depths, her pale skin luminous against the shadows. She felt her hand by her sides as she swished her tail, propelling herself forwards and downwards, towards home.

As the dark waves had churned threateningly, the ships side had been gored by the jagged rocks like the horns of an angry bull. The ropes and chains rattled and the sailed buffeted against the storm, and the masts collapsed, exaggerating the damage to the body of the ship. Like a vessel of glass, it cracked and smashed as it sunk, hurling it's passengers into the icy black water below. Those left on board had abandoned ship as the tug of the water below had ripped the boat apart, dragging the bow and the stern in opposite directions and down under the frozen waters.

"Abandon ship!" Prince James shouted to his men as he realised there was no saving them. He only hoped that Peter and the other men he had lowered into the emergency boat made it to shore alive, and that they were able to tell Sirius and Remus of his fate.

He was not one to give up hope however, and was determined to save himself. He headed to the bow of the ship which had risen at an angle as the middle of the ship sunk fast into the tornado of water below. The best chance he had was to avoid the gravity of the sinking ship. He pulled himself up to the head and steadied himself. After finding his balance and hearing a loud crack behind him, he dived in.

* * *

"Humans have a much shorter lifespan than merfolks' 300 years, but when mermaids die, they turn to sea foam and cease to exist, while humans have an eternal soul that lives on," her grandmother had once told her. "Humans experience things in a way merfolk can never, we drift and move and see things, but we never feel them. We don't _live_ like humans do."

She had been forced to wait until the day she turned eighteen to venture up to the surface, to see the world. She had obeyed. Her mother's death at the hull of a human ship warned her not to break her father's one rule. So she had waited, and she had dreamed. She had collected trinkets from shipwrecks and ornaments from the ocean floor. She often watched as the two sticks whirred in a circle around her favourite golden trinket, wondering what the rhythmic movements meant.

But then she had turned of age. The visions had become a reality and like a merchild leaving the home for their first swim, every blurry idea of what the human world was like had focused into a beautiful view of the sunset. She visited every day since. As she lay on that rock out at sea which acted as her place between the human world and the ocean, she yearned and she wept. For the land, for people who felt as strongly as she did and for the air.

* * *

A whirlpool had been created as the water was displaced by fragments of the ship. Ripples and bubbles erupted violently in the surrounding water until the ship was lost, and nothing but the crashing waves could be seen on the surface of the ocean.

James was surrounded by the black ocean and felt his vision going hazy. The ship had suddenly descended just as he went to jump, he had slipped and ended up crashing into a rock. He felt a searing pain as the salt water stung a deep cut on his head. _Bloody idiot_ , he thought to himself as he attempted to stay conscious. He saw the light of the sky fading above him and frantically moved his arms, trying to stay calm all the while he knew it was a losing game. He was going to drown. But he wasn't going down without a fight.

* * *

Lily needed to become a human. She sometimes felt as though she was the only one with a mind or feelings or objections in the palace. She never felt as though she was being challenged by anyone, no one disagreed they simply accepted things.

No one felt any passion for anything.

She adored music but her sisters were simply good at it and sang for their father. She hated being ordered around when she was an adult and was far more mature than any of the other noble born mermaids. While she disobeyed, no one else wanted to feel the rush of adrenaline that came from doing something forbidden and no one wanted to feel the blood rise to their cheeks as they screamed at the top of their lungs in an argument.

While she was a fiery time-bomb waiting to be set off, her sisters were limp and coldblooded in the purest of senses.

She had left her boulder, and the feeling of the cold wind whipping her hair and lashing her skin. The waves had jostled her around, begging her to let go of the rock and of her unhealthy fascination with the shore in front of her. She willed the corals to embrace her in a sharp, pink hug and slice her to ribbons. She willed herself to drown, for the water to fill her lungs like it would a man and for the vice of the sea to drag her to her depths. She imagined it would be a rather peaceful death, floating away from the light through the calm of the ocean. Tragic but peaceful.

* * *

As his lungs were squeezed smaller by the pressure, he had choked on the water forcing itself into his mouth. His throat had burned with the trapped air, his final breath before plunging into the black water. His ears were pounding and his heart was hammering fast against his chest. He could only hear his heartbeat and the rumble of the waves that surrounded him.

He could take no more. He had opened his mouth to shout, but all that came out was a torrent of bubbles, his final lifeline gone. He realised he had little time left.

He no longer knew which way was up of down, which way meant death and which way meant safety, so he had just floated. He had felt the cool rush of water flowing through his throat and nose and was relieved. He could no longer hear the rhythm of the ocean and slowly his sight had begun to fail. He had slipped away and was enveloped by the darkness and the cold.

As she wafted through the water, she felt an unfamiliar tug. It wasn't a current and it didn't flow like the boundary between two bodies of water. It was a different tug, it felt more powerful and more destructive.

She swam towards it, being helped by the drag which pulled her closer. She was accelerating now, so she pushed against the force with her tail. A strong heave of her scaled body easily counteracting the stream.

What she saw made her gasp, a choked sob ripped itself from her throat as she watched the scene in front of her. She saw life dimming all around her, humans sinking and gasping for air. They were grappling with the intangible water, and she watched in horror as the life left their eyes.

She had to help.

She swum between bodies, searching for someone who was alive, who she could save. She was met with men who had already inhaled so much water in panic that their souls were already lost.

But then she saw a column of white water shoot downwards from the surface. It was a man, his body causing a froth of white bubbles to erupt around him as he dived. Her heart gave a triumphant leap as she moved towards him from the other end of the ship. She would save him.

His lean figure doing nothing to help him from sinking. As she saw him flailing, she admired his determination. He had to know he had no hope, but he was fighting for his life. Her grandmother must have been correct, no merperson would fight to stay alive like that. They drifted serenely to sleep and dissolved, to remain as sea foam for the rest of eternity.

But this man, all these men actually, had struggled. They felt their lives were worth fighting for, desperate to cling to their experiences and their loved ones. Lily wanted to feel that, the desire to hold on and to survive.

She saw him stop moving and willed herself to move faster, to get to him in time. Approaching she saw he had a darkened face, sunkissed from his time on the high seas. His hair was jet black and shorter than the ponytails mermen kept their locks in, and far more messy. He had a long thin nose, and dark eyebrow which framed his face, and long dark eyelashes.

She moved in front of him and hauled him up, shaking his shoulder to wake him. _No, no, no_ she could not lose another one. She yanked him from underneath one of his arms, propelling them towards the surface as fast as she could. She kept glancing back down at him and felt her last piece of hope fail as the final bubbles left his mouth.

But she couldn't give up hope. He would live. They broke the surface of the water and she felt his body limp against hers. She tipped his head to the side and a spluttering of water came out as he coughed lightly. It wasn't enough, all the water had to leave his lungs but for now, it would do.

She pulled him towards the shore, and beached herself next to him, making sure he was well out of the way of the tide. Thankfully it was moving out to sea. She was on her front and could not sit herself upright. She disregarded that. Instead she lay herself across his upper body and listened for a heart beat.

For excruciating seconds, there was silence…and then, she felt the soft thumping of his heart and almost wept with relief. What was she supposed to do now? His pulse was so soft and uncertain, like a flickering streetlight being overwhelmed by the night.

She turned his head to the side and he coughed up some more sea water filling his lungs, and she wrinkled her nose. _That_ didn't smell nice. Still, when he lay his head back in defeat, a shot of panic coursed through her system.

She dragged her weight up his body, closer to him and grasped his shirt in desperation, wanting to do anything that would save her human. She clenched one hand in the material of his shirt around the neck and yanked it. She slipped her other hand around the back of his head and into his hair, lifting it up slightly. She drew even closer to his face, looking for a small twitch of the muscles in his jaw or the flutter of his eyelids.

"Don't you dare die on me," she whispered, just an inch away from him now.

His eyes shot open and he raised his head suddenly to look at her, smacking foreheads with her accidentally.

"Ow, bugger," he mumbled as though he were waking.

 _Well, that probably wasn't good for his concussion_ , she thought to herself as she rubbed her head and watched his eyes glaze over again. She was astounded by the colour of his irises, they were like gold. Like buried treasure, with flecks of brown and even green which matched her own.

She could see his consciousness waning and decided to do the only think she could think of. She kissed him.

She held his face in her hands and leaned forward. His eyes were still closed but she felt his breath mingle with hers just before she pressed her lips to his. His eyes opened in shock and he saw a beautiful girl, with thick eyelashes and white skin. She was a blur of red; her flushed cheeks, red lips and hair all exquisitely beautiful as the sun rose behind her head. She was kissing him. He moved his lips, responding to the gentle brush of hers. She felt his heart speed up to a normal rate underneath her torso and his arms wrap around her waist. Indulging himself, he ran his tongue over her lips and felt her shiver. She tasted like salt water and fresh air, and as he felt her press up against him, she felt like sunshine.

He drew her back, wanting to see her face again and was astonished when she opened her eyes. They were the most vivid green he had ever seen, like sea weed with flecks of turquoise. The salt water had dried, so her dark eyelashes had small white crystals sitting on them, which sparkled in the sun. She seemed ethereal, too good to be true. The way she held his gaze rather than glancing down as girls often did in his presence made him love her even more. He valued a little disobedience, and the wicked smile she gave him made his heart leap.

The smirk he gave her made her tingle, it was lopsided and boyish and she loved it. She liked his face now that it had a flush, he was breathing quickly and he was _alive_.

But he had seen her, and that wasn't allowed, so she sung him to sleep.

Her voice was hard to describe. It was warm and rich and soulful, but it sang a sorrowful melody and made him want to weep. She knew she was putting him in a trance. It would lead to him thinking her a mirage or a hallucination, but she willed him to remember her. Her siren call poured out of her like a river. Her tone was spine-tingling, and she sung a tune of opposites. It was refreshing like the ocean but sharp like the rocks he had almost drowned on, velvety like the feel of seaweed stroking your feet but every syllable sounded mournful, like how it felt to lose someone.

He could feel himself falling away, but the last thing he was conscious of was brilliant green eyes, berry-coloured hair and his hand on her lower back, on the scales of a vivid green tail.

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	2. Sea Witch

**A/N: In the original the sea witch was merely a neutral enabler and not a villain so I stuck with that. Also in the original the witch makes her feel pain when she dances on her human legs and cuts out her tongue as payment, here I decided to ignore the former and replace the latter with Disney's idea of the witch simply taking her voice and storing it for her own use. I have also mixed and matched on some other terms the witch set, but on the whole I'm still sticking to the original.**

* * *

She had never been here before, but she grit her teeth and swam on despite the chill that was trailing up and down her spine. Surrounded by black, only the green of her eyes and the deep red of her hair stood out to the creatures of the deep who were watching her with beaky eyes. Some wanted to stop her as she moved past them but failed to find the courage.

While she looked delicate, with slim shoulders and a small frame, they knew that she was the mermaid from the tales. Princess Lily, able to silence whispers about her human sympathies with a glare. Just one look at her, the way she carried herself, the way she swam with such deft movements, such purpose, told them that she was not as delicate as she seemed.

She was lost deep in thought as she meandered her way off the beaten path. She had returned to the palace after leaving the boy on the shore and her father had forbidden her to leave again. Her sisters had glared at her when she had announced she was going for an early swim and Marlene, Dorcas and Mary had begged her not to leave the palace, as they all suspected she wouldn't return the same.

She was going to the sea witch, hoping to become a human.

Now as she moved towards the sea witches cavern, down the icy trench that would lead her to the woman, her fathers only rival in power. It was said that she had the limbs of an octopus, thick enough to wind around a merman's torso and crush him instantly. She would be stupid to underestimate the witches powers. Mermen also told of the way her skin was a greyish hue and her eyes burned with a black fire, and Lily didn't doubt them. Living in this dark abyss could do things to a person, she was sure of it.

The stories claimed that her slimy tendrils sucked painfully against her victims skin before she finished them, and that she gagged you before breaking your neck with a swift pull of her tentacles. Recalling all the tales made her falter but as she looked back she realise the black had closed around her.

She took a deep breath and clenched her jaw. This witch may be all these things, but then she may not. The princess knew how tales were twisted and adapted, to make the villain scarier, king more heroic and the princess more disobedient, in an attempt to warn merchildren away from this sea trench, to make them listen to her father's rule and to make her a cautionary tale against rebelliousness and human sympathies.

Even if this woman lived up to her legend, so did Lily. She _had_ stolen her fathers trident and wielded it against a merman who refused to take no for an answer, she also had the most enchanting voice which would have lured many a sailor to their deaths had her father not put an end to that cruel practice. She was the girl who pranked her family and often had her father bellowing with laughter, she was the friend of the palace staff and the only princess who had ventured further than the kingdoms walls.

She was the mermaid with the blood red hair, the siren, the one who felt everything too vividly.

She swam on.

* * *

She heard a muttering coming from inside the cavern. The entrance was lined with floors and walls of black seaweed which seemed to writhe in pain though she knew it wasn't possible, she supposed it must be in her mind. Hallucinations in the dark in a moment of fear. As she examined the entrance further she realised that it wasn't a cave at all, but the remains of a colossal leviathan who must have found its demise here in the deeper waters.

Suddenly she did not feel so confident. Would the sea witch really help her? Would it break her fathers heart to know she had joined the very people who had killed her mother? Was she sure she wanted to do this, sacrifice so much for a chance at life on land?

No matter how much bravery she had, she knew that if her heart told her there was something wrong, she should trust her instincts. She turned back, ready to swim away and delay her decision until she wouldn't falter at the door to the sea witch. As she moved away she felt something coil around her tail and tighten.

Thrashing and flailing in panic, she screamed for help.

"Release me, now" she thundered, with the authority of her father and the mean streak of a girl who felt threatened, as she twisted her torso to see whichever creature of the deep had tried to capture her.

To her surprise, it was a merperson. Her skin was a pale lavender colour and her lips a clashing red. Her figure was a deep black and when Lily's eyes followed her captors body down, she found the woman was half squid and the limb latched onto her glittering scales was a tentacle.

Lily felt her heartbeat fasten and the blood leave her face, but despite fearing the witch, she demanded again for the woman to release her, "I will not be manhandled. Remove your tentacle before I remove it for you."

Her cool tone was a surprise to both Lily and the witch. The pressure on her tail loosened and Lily wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but the tension in the water was palpable and she couldn't show any sign that she was threatened by the woman.

"I'm sorry your highness, it's just not often that I get visitors," the sorceress replied demurely.

"Probably because you manhandle them," Lily snapped back.

"I do apologise for that, truly."

"Thank you, now I am returning to the palace," Lily said bluntly, but visibly less aggressively than before.

She had barely put a metre between herself and that creepy place when she heard the witch call after her, "But didn't you come looking for something?"

Again she paused. Not turning back, but not moving further away she halted herself and wondered how she knew. Perhaps she should ask. She had come all this way for nothing. Had her bravery simply faltered earlier? Had she tried to blame a lack of courage on a 'bad feeling'?

"I had been expecting you for a while now is all, I just thought you wanted something from me," the woman added cautiously, selecting her words carefully so as not to offend the princess.

She turned back around and looked closely at the woman. The tales had made her into a far greater villain than Lily could imagine she was. The woman looked brittle and fragile, not at all like the monster she was often portrayed as. She didn't even seem to be trying to lure Lily into a trap, she had already returned to her cave and was humming a beautiful song Lily's mother used to sing. She seemed powerful, yes, but she had a suspicion that the womans role as a sea witch and her somewhat quirky choice of abode had led people to incorrect conclusions about her.

"Oh, you again. I thought you'd be back."

"What is your name?" Lily asked. She'd rather not address her as 'sea-witch' lest that offend her. Then Lily would never know whether she could have done something for her.

"Maris. Now I must ask…what is it that you want from me?"

Lily got the impression the woman already knew, but was asking her for the sake of asking. Still, she decided that if she had made it all this way, she might as well see if it was possible.

"I – I would like to become a human," she whispered.

"I see. You realise you would never see your family again. You would die early, suffer more pain and anguish than you ever would had you stayed a mermaid," Maris stated, while staring at her calmly.

"Yes, but I would feel something at least," Lily said whistfully. Louder, so the witch could hear her she added, "I want to have a soul, to _live._ "

"I understand. But you have other motivations you are not being honest about. I cannot help you," the old woman muttered as she wandered around the cavern, checking bottles and straightening hanging vials of liquid.

Lily's heart dropped as the witch refused. Her throat tightened and her cheeks burned, with anger at herself and the witch. She felt her eyes pricking and clenched her jaw, not wanting her tendency to be an angry crier to give her away. _Right, you annoying little octopus lady…_

"I saved a human," she confessed.

"Go on." The woman raised her eyebrow as she looked at the girl, dissatisfied with her half-truths.

"I liked the human," she choked out, only just able to admit that.

Her expression must have said a lot more however and the witch continued for her.

"You love the human."

"I barely know the human," Lily huffed, crossing her arms. How could she think Lily liked the shipwrecked idiot when she hardly knew him? She could admit he was a factor in convincing her life as a human wouldn't be all bad. He had seemed good, despite her father's tales being full of murderous and cruel humans. There must be more like him. That is what had convinced her, not the fact she had any interest in him whatsoever.

She blushed as she remembered the kiss, but quickly pushed it out of her mind. He had forgotten it. She had to forget it. It was in the rush of the moment and had worked as a shock to his system. Nothing more.

She suddenly felt conscious of the sea witch looking at her, smiling sadly as though she had read Lily's mind and found the confusion and the turmoil she felt over one small kiss. She didn't need her sympathy though, Lily needed her help.

"Well I suppose that's true," Maris conceded, though clearly still doubtful.

Lily watched her, waiting as the witch scuttled around until she could bear it no more.

"So, will you help me?" she pleaded.

"No," the witch said, and Lily's jaw dropped. She was about to start cursing the old crone when she added, "Not yet."

"Okay… well, when?" questioned Lily. She was far from amused with the mysterious witch and the cryptic answers she was being given, but the chill that ran down her spine as she gazed around made her cautious.

"Have the day to think about it, I wouldn't want your choice to be made on an impulse. It is very stupid of you, it shall bring you such sorrow, pretty princess. It is dawn on shore now and I must have my decision by dusk. After sun-rise tomorrow I am unable to help you for another year, but bring me your decision by dusk today and you shall have your way."

"I really don't need time to consider it, I am sure," Lily replied, feeling a flutter in her chest at the possibility of becoming human.

The witch gave an ugly laugh and her tentacles wriggled about on the grey sand of the ocean floor.

"I will prepare a draught for you, don't doubt it. But you must understand that your tail will be split and you will feel a pain so great it will feel like a sword has been driven through you. Think again because once your shape has become human, you cannot return to the sea as a mermaid. You will lose your family. If you do not make the Prince lose his mind with love, so much so that he ignores his family and commits himself to loving you despite your lack of title and noble blood in the human world, then you will never have an immortal soul. The morning after he marries another you will turn to sea foam and cease to exist."

"You drive a hard bargain," Lily said as she crossed her arms and scowled. She blew a strand of hair out of her face as she huffed. "So you're telling me I have to seduce a man I barely know into holy matrimony. Brilliant, any other clauses to this agreement I should know about?"

"I never said anything about seduction or holy matrimony, only a proposal, a commitment or a sacrifice. An act of love that is powerful enough to break the spell, so that some of his soul will flow to you. Though I suppose you will be the prettiest human they have ever seen," the witch gazed up at Lily who felt herself blush. She had heard it said a lot in the Palace, but was eternally awful at accepting compliments.

Seeing her discomfort, the witch chuckled and spoke again.

"You are asking a very difficult spell of me, I must demand payment."

That was fine, she had money.

The witch seemed to read her mind and she pursed her grey lips, and shook her head.

"I cannot take money. It is worth nothing to those who practice witchcraft. No, I need something universally valuable. Something precious."

She took a breath; "Your voice."

Lily stared at the witch, her deep green eyes widened in shock. She spluttered as her thoughts moved faster than her mouth. "I – you – wait a second."

She felt herself shaking, but was unsure whether it was with anger or shock or tears. How could she demand so much from Lily. Her voice was her personality, how else was she supposed to capture the attention of the Prince. She was pretty, but she doubted she was attractive enough to convince a man to love her without uttering a word to him. "If you take my voice, what is left for me?"

"Your beauty, your grace and those eyes. Marriage's have been made from less." She added wryly, "Men on shore prefer a silent woman anyway, silence in a woman is valued."

"But – but will that be enough?" she stuttered.

"If it was anyone else, I would say no. I still advise against it, but you are more beautiful than your mother. Anyone can see that. If it is possible for a mermaid to gain the love of a human, I would bet on you."

Lily contemplated this. The risks and sacrifices far outnumbered the results, but the end result was being human, and likely marrying the man she saved. She could learn him, and learn to love him. A dozen needles danced across her forehead as she closed her eyes, feeling her head pounding. Her nose crinkled and she seemed to be staring sightlessly at a spot in front of her. She was constantly moving back and forth, swinging between panic and a stupid impulse saying _just do it already_.

"I can already see you doubting your decision girl. Think on the pain, and your sweet voice and your family. Think on the man, on human souls and human legs. Weigh them against each other and return to me at dusk. Go on child," she said, waving Lily out of the cave with a tired nod of the head. "Go."

* * *

The first thing that hit James upon waking was the smell. There was the scent of washed up sea weed and damp wood, debris from the wreck. He didn't have the strength to open his eyes just yet so he lay there and felt the millions of grains of sand, hot against his fingers. There was a slight breeze against his face, but it didn't provide any relief from the sweltering sun. He clamped his eyes shut again after attempting to open them, only to find they felt swollen and red from the brine. He was beginning to see the light of the sun through his thin eyelids and he could hear the sea crawling onto the sand, and in the distance, the same creature smashing powerfully against the rocks.

He opened his mouth to take a gulp of air, but only tasted salt in his throat and mouth and stomach. He felt his lips crack painfully and licked them, though he knew that would likely worsen the problem.

His brain did a somersault as he felt his lips were slightly swollen and warm. They tasted different, sweet, like cherry wine. He saw dark green eyes and burning red locks, and was all but washed away in the memory of the tide of her breathing. Her piercing eyes came into focus, they looked sharp and steady at him from his memory of her. He found no words left to describe that perfect creature.

He sat up fast and scrambled to find his surroundings. Where had she gone? He was burning up a fever and he would have sworn he had dreamt her up had she not been so electric. His head still felt tender and he almost lost consciousness, but he couldn't let that hold him back. He had to find her.

Lily watched from her rock as he went from panicked, to desperate, to determined, to blacked out on the sand.

 _Idiot._

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	3. Seaweed Brain

**A/N: I've had part of this written up for ages but I finally finished this chapter. Still kind of playing around with the original and the Disney version because it's difficult to make Lily become Hans Christian Andersen's woeful and tragic Little Mermaid when Lily is so feisty.**

* * *

Lily's chest had constricted with the effort of not crying as she approached the shore and placed herself between some high rocks that rose out of the water. She had then watched to see what would become of the poor prince, shaking her head in exasperation as he had passed out on the beach after his small episode.

She did not have to wait long before a young girl appeared and approached the spot where he lay. She seemed tentative at first but knelt down and lay her head against his chest, supposedly for a heartbeat. Lily gritted her teeth and felt her face flush violently because she had lay her head there just a few hours before. She did not care that the girl was closer to James than she could be, she cared that she was now going to steal the credit for saving him when Lily had been the one to carry him to shore.

The girl then ran up the beach and returned with a number of people who began to hover around James, slapping his face and bringing him water as he woke. He sat up slowly this time (at least he learnt from previous stupidity, Lily thought) and smiled dazedly at those around him. He looked between their faces, seemingly searching for someone. Lily hoped it was her that he was looking for, but she abruptly waved that thought out of her head realising how silly that thought really was. Of course he wouldn't remember her, she had charmed him to forget everything about her and almost nothing was strong enough to overcome her song. Especially not this dolt who didn't seem to have any common sense, or you know, a single brain cell.

As she saw the party lead him up the sand and away from her she felt a pang of loss. She expected to feel envy as she saw James speak to the girl amiably as she supported him. She expected the rush of anger that came as she watched his arm drape around the girls side, drawing her closer to him accidentally.

But what she did not expect was the emptiness. Without him, she had no link to the human world. She had no soul. His soul was to be shared with her if she was ever going to become human; she felt a strange sort of protectiveness over him as well as this new feeling of loneliness without him here.

She dived down sorrowfully into the water, and returned to her father's castle. She had never been so silent and thoughtful as she was that day, and this stark change in personality following a very long trip to the surface was noticed by her sisters more so than ever. They asked her what she had seen during her visit to the surface of the water that had made her so troubled; but she would tell them nothing.

Many a time did she rise to the place where she had left the prince. She saw men visit the beach where he was washed up to check for any other survivors, the girl walked back along the beach after taking James away, she supposed. It became lighter and warmer as it reached midday and common fishermen returned to the jetty, having been at sea since the early morning. Small children who were dressed like nobles were allowed to play on the beach, being minded by their matrons not to go in the sea. She kept returning in the hopes that the Prince would revisit the spot of sand where she had saved him, but she never saw the prince, and therefore she returned home, always more sorrowful than before.

It was her only comfort to sit in her room, and fling her arms around Petunia who was her closest sister. Petunia stroked Lily's beautiful locks of scarlet which bobbed in the water as she sniffled into her sister's shoulder. Lily tried to distract herself, but she gave up tending her flowers or trying to sing herself to sleep. It turned darker, the strong beams of sun from the surface fading and no longer reaching the depths of the ocean. Seeing that the sun was sinking she could bear it no longer, and told Petunia in the hopes she would be convinced to stay.

She spoke of how she had watched the Prince revive as she peeped out from behind her rock just offshore. Lily recounted how her head had rested on his chest and how beautiful he had looked as she pressed her lips to his. As she spoke of him, she lit up.

She wished more and more to be able to wander about with those whose world seemed to be so much larger than her own. They could fly over the sea in ships, and mount the high hills which were far above the clouds; and the lands they possessed, their woods and their fields, stretched far away beyond the reach of her sight.

"You care about this, possibly an unhealthy amount Lily," Petunia stated, rather unhelpfully Lily thought.

"I really do. I feel like I'm lost here, and although this is my reality, it's not real to me. I feel like up there – I could be home."

"That's not true. You'd be more out of place up there than you ever were here," Petunia continued. Always the pragmatist. She was probably right. But even knowing that, Lily would rather be lost on shore than lost down here in the cold depths of the sea.

She gave up trying to explain it to her sister, but she had made up her mind.

It was almost dusk, and it was worth it. She couldn't live down here wondering how life could be up there, especially when even talking about that world seemed to warm her insides.

She was paying Maris' price. She was joining the Prince on the surface, as a human.

She then left her sister telling her she loved her for the final time, swam over the Kingdom that never loved her and said goodbye to the Palace as it slept.

* * *

"Sirius, I swear to Godric if you don't listen to me right now I will banish you when I become King," James snapped from his bed as he tried to move the covers and follow his prick of a best friend out the room.

"Get some sleep mate, you're going barmy from the sun exposure," Sirius responded, rubbing his temples exhaustedly as James tried again to tell him about the beautiful mermaid who saved him.

The Prince was lying in bed, his head in a bandage and balms covering the wounds covering his body. The nurses had said that the sea had acted as a wonderful antiseptic, but the sand had irritated the gashes he had received from the rocks. They would only take a couple days to heal but the main issue was his head. It felt like his brain was swelling inside his skull and the fact his best mate was not taking him seriously was making the pulsating headache worse.

"I hate to do this and you know I do but as Prince, I command you to stay here and listen to me... _please_ ," the Prince said earnestly.

"Bloody power's gone to your head," Sirius shook his head stopping by the door.

He raised his eyebrows at James who responded in turn by huffing and crossing his arms brown arms over his chest like a petulant child. Sirius ran his hand through his hair and sighed, but returned to sit at the foot of James' bed. They both knew he could walk away whenever he wanted, but Sirius also knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it until James had told him every last detail about this girl. Once when they were younger he had a crush on one of his maids, and young Lord Black had to hear all about the way she held his hand and called him 'love'. James in love was delusional, and persistent if nothing else. Sirius laid across the bottom of Potter's bed, propped up on his elbow, nodding to the other boy to go on.

"I know it sounds crazy. I _know_ that, but you have to believe me. She was perfect and beautiful and she kissed me. She must have dragged me onto the beach but - her voice. My god her voice, it made me feel like I could have everything I ever wanted. She - she _is_ everything I've ever wanted Sirius."

Sirius frowned.

"Mate, you took a pretty hard hit to the head and you must have swallowed a ridiculous amount of sea water. Can you see why I'm having trouble believing the mermaid thing?"

James was about to respond but then bit his tongue. He did sound a bit mad.

"Okay so maybe the tail was my imagination. But the girl… I can promise you the girl wasn't. I couldn't imagine her eyes, I've never seen – I just couldn't make her up," James explained.

"More believable. There were a few girls in the group who were found tending to you after we had been collected."

"No, no - this was before. We were alone, and she found me. She might have been in the storm, I don't know. Her hair was wet and salty, and so were her lips…" James blushed and avoided Sirius' eyes. He didn't approve of James' being such a sap, and he definitely didn't like the fact he was made to sit through James being a sap about a random girl who would probably be too common for him to marry anyway.

Prongs always seemed to have the worst timing, and it could not be denied anymore that he had the worst luck. The one time he actually likes a girl, it's a common girl from the local fishing village. The King and Queen would probably have no problem with this romance, but propriety insisted that he marry a princess from a neighbouring kingdom and now they had arranged his courtship with the daughter of Queen Rowena. Poor sod, Sirius thought as he tried to find a way to break this information to his mate. The Prince continued, "Then I suppose that could be from her dragging me out of the waves."

"Are you sure you aren't talking about Victoria? The girl who found you and walked you up here?"

James glared at his friend. " _Sirius,"_ he grumbled as if to say _'No, not bloody Victoria, you arsehole, I do have a memory capable of retaining information longer than 10 minutes, I do remember how beautiful Victoria was yes, but if you were listening you'd know I'm talking about a completely different girl here. And I'm not going crazy alright_.'

"We'll visit the beach tomorrow and the little seaside town down there. If mystery girl is around, she's probably there," Sirius rolled his eyes for what must be the tenth time since this conversation began.

"Now will you bloody well sleep, you love-struck plonker."

James nodded defeatedly and Sirius called the maids in to draw the curtains around his bed and make sure he was comfortable before bed. Peter and the boat of his men who had escaped were alright, and he was going to find the girl with the Marauders tomorrow. Surrounded by freshly plumped cushions and full from the broth he had been fed, he closed his eyes. He tucked his bare arms under his bed-sheets, trying not to tighten the muscles in his forearms as he moved in order not to disturb the bandages wrapped around them. Despite the discomfort and constant ache he felt in his bones, he finally cocooned himself in the duvet.

There was still a little bit of her taste in his mouth as he faded from consciousness, a smile on his face as he fell asleep remembering the lull of her siren song.

* * *

The witch nodded as she saw Lily approach the entrance to her cave, placing her cauldron on the fire knowing she must begin to prepare the magic draught.

She pricked Lily on the finger and let her silvery blood drop three times into the cauldron. Then with the same knife, the sea witch slit her index finger, letting the black blood fall to join the princesses. The steam that rose billowed, trying to escape the cauldron and suffocate its surroundings. Every moment the witch threw something else into the vessel; sand from an odd looking jar, mollusks she had kept in a small jewellery box and the heads of three sea snakes.

It finally began to boil, and when it was ready at last the witch spooned out a vial of the clear liquid. "There it is for you," said the witch as she opened another vial, gently tracing a long nail softly up Lily's neck. She suddenly felt something force open her mouth as her voice left her and a white orb was drawn into the bottle the witch was holding.

She clasped the witches hand between hers in thanks as she took the potion and then with a powerful kick of her tail she swept out of sea witches home. She passed quickly out of the dark seaweed swamped cavern, and between the rushing whirlpools. She saw that in her father's palace the torches were still extinguished, and all within asleep; but she did not go to them, for she felt as if her heart would break. She swam in spirals and circles, somewhat reluctant to commit to losing her tail forever. For the last time she felt herself propelled through the water, light and deft movements meaning she could feel a current against her scales. The violent impulse of the very cold water against her limbs buoyed her as she rose up through the dark blue waters.

The sun had not risen when she came in sight of the shore and approached the beach, but the moon lit the way for her to follow. She propelled herself onto the beach and drank the magic draught, immediately feeling herself crumple as her tail burned in excruciating pain.

The edges of her sight blurred as her upper body fell back onto the cold sand. She writhed as pain coursed through her body and she heard a sickening slicing sound as her tailed separated. There was a crack which felt like the invisible knife was jerked in further as her vision went black; there was a final surge of pain making her unable to breathe and then suddenly, she passed out.

* * *

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	4. Washed Ashore

**Sorry my updates take so long, I don't get too much time to write atm but this story is still being written. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Lily awoke to a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She had moved slightly as she had started to gain consciousness and immediately regretted it; the new bones had transformed so quickly that everything felt stretched and still tender. There was less pressure on her mind than underwater but the change still made her disorientated.

Her skull lay back on the sand and she could feel the thumping pulse of a headache coming on. The sun was already up, the light was too much for her eyes and at midday the heat would become unbearable for she who was used to the freezing depths of the ocean.

She needed to move. More importantly, she thought, she needed to walk.

The ocean wind blew in bitter gusts, tumbling Lily's tangled red locks behind her on the sand. The salty air lay thickly on her tongue and filled her nostrils. Despite the uneasy need to wretch it brought as a human, she smiled deliriously as it reminded her of her family. Sitting up slowly, she felt a wave of nausea pour over her as she began coughing up leftover sea water.

Recovering from choking, she sat up again cautiously and looked to the tide-line as the early morning sun rose even further in the sky. Where the sea never touched were grey rocks which were splashed with yellow gorse, and cliff faces covered in blue and green lichen. Beneath these are trails of vivid orange-brown sea weed on the almost white sand. The violet mussel beds were suctioned to rocks just before the beach moved into the sea.

Looking from the shore the water seemed to be a bottle-green colour much like her eyes, and on the boulders jutting out the water a bit further out were starfish and big spiny urchins of pink and purple. Below the water she knew there was spiralling coral and schools of fish and creatures of the deep which from on shore it was difficult to imagine existed. She felt a pang in her heart knowing that the surface is all she would ever really know of the ocean from now on.

A shiver brought her back to her senses. She realised she could not sit here damp and cold for much longer without risking her health.

Her skin was bare, and in the morning chill Lily was chalky-white and goose-bumped with cold. She had to follow the lead of the human she had brought here, and find him before she was swept off on another current. Everything felt stiff and as she attempted to push onto her newly formed feet, Lily overstepped, her balance went and she tumbled back onto the ground.

She went to open her mouth and swear to Poseidon himself but there was silence despite the strain she felt on her vocal chords.

 _Well fuck_ , she thought.

* * *

"Why are we doing this?" Sirius grumbled, rubbing his eyes with his palms to emphasise to James how early it really was. Behind him Remus and Peter grunted in agreement, but James was walking too far ahead of them to hear his friends' complaints. He was clearly agitated, turning back every few seconds to shout for his friends to hurry.

"I'm going to shove him off the side of this walkway and have his crown for myself if he hurries us one more time," Remus growled.

They were walking down the stone steps on the cliff side, which travelled from the beach and the fishing villages and jettys, up the vertical rock to the top of the cliff on which sat the palace. The three boys lagging behind took turns in gazing back at it, wanting desperately to still be in bed and not on a wild goose chase for a mythical creature.

But sadly, where James went, they went.

Getting closer and closer to the seaside they began pushing each other more and when they reached the sand they were tackling and racing each other, feeling rejuvenated by the salty cool air which was whipping across their cheeks.

"Alright James, if we've come on a girl hunt I'm pretty sure the fishing village isn't a great idea. All you'll find there are old greying men and their wives," Sirius said, joking but half wanting to tell his friend that this was a completely lost cause.

"She didn't- she wasn't a fisherman's wife. She didn't recognise me," he frowned.

"Sure she wasn't blind? Even fisherman's wives from all five neighbouring kingdoms would know your face," Sirius said in disbelief.

"Well she might just be stupid you know," Peter suggested.

James turned to glare at him while Remus playfully got him in a headlock.

"Well Prongs, if she's not from here then… where are you planning on looking?" Sirius questioned again. He wasn't willing to walk the whole length of the beach when the sun had not even fully risen yet just to find no one.

James turned to them all and looked at them desperately. This wasn't like another girl. This wasn't a fleeting obsession with a girl he had never spoken to before or flirting with a maid of the palace who was 10 years his senior. He felt... strange.

It was like in the fairy tales when the man would have his first conversation with his true love and everything would just feel right. The girl had felt like an escape from reality while still being sharply in focus. It was like he had been lost, and instead of returning home content and alive, he had been marooned on this paradisiacal island. No more dreaming like a boy so in love with the wrong world. He couldn't leave now. He wasn't seeking a ship or sending smoke signals for rescue because she was all he needed. She was edenic, his own little escape from reality.

He believed that if he just walked a long this beach it was only natural that she would find him.

"I'm just taking a walk and hoping for the best. You don't have to join me. In fact if you could deliver an invite to the girl who walked me to the palace I'll meet you in the fishing village after," he tried to say casually.

Casually, however, never came easily to Prince James. Once he had tried to lean on the bar and "act casual" as Sirius had said when they snuck out to the Rosemerta Tavern at the age of fifteen. It ended with a woman throwing a drink in his face for elbowing her in the chest, and the four of them having to escape very swiftly before her rather large husband started a brawl. Needless to say, the current attempt at 'casual' was equally unsuccessful.

"Mate, you know we're happy to come..." Peter replied, significantly less teasingly than before.

The other marauders nodded, and the conversation immediately became more somber. Sirius placed his hand of James' shoulder and Remus gently smiled at his friend. But this wasn't something they could do together. He didn't want to continue to make his friends glum throughout the day. With a smile and a shake of the head, James put on his best show of confidence.

"No really guys, I'd rather take a walk. And this way I won't have to hand deliver the message. You know how I hate the ceremonial stuff."

They nodded. He really did hate turning up at the homes of peasants. He hated seeing how they bowed to him and stopped everything to look after him. They got flustered, they didn't know what to offer him and it was difficult for James, who cringed at the nerves, the blushing and the shaky hands he caused people. The marauders arriving would cause far less hysteria than if the prince, heir to the throne visited. The three nobles looked at each other, and nodded simultaneously, deciding to spare their friend the ordeal.

They left, looking over their shoulders every couple of steps to see James scuffing the sand with his shoes as he walked along the beach. It felt wrong, leaving him in such a state.

It went against every instinct to walk away from the prince, but he needed time with his thoughts. It seemed like something he needed to do by himself; he needed to find the girl alone.

* * *

The Sea Witch heard a heart wrenching roar which echoed from Poseidon's Palace. His rage was palpable in the currents and the current felt like it could tear the ocean creatures apart. She knew she would soon be sent for and would have to answer for the King's daughter's fate.

Staring into the cauldron, over the edges of which black ink billowed into the surrounding water., she swirled a finger in a ringed shape. The oily substance morphed into a silvery reflective liquid and she placed her hands on either side of the bowl, gazing down at an image of the underwater palace. Lily's fellow mermaids, daughters of the King were trying to comfort him and surrounding him with their beautiful voices. It seemed however that it wasn't only Lily who had a rebellious streak. Petunia, with a whip of her peach coloured tail stormed out of the presence of her family. Maris' cauldron image followed the grieving sister, who holed herself up in a small room at the opposite end of the castle. She sobbed hysterically and covered her ears, trying desperately to block out the siren song of her sisters. A flurry of small fish entered her room and began wiping her tears and swimming smoothly across her skin to soothe the princess.

"Oh my dear girl, I am so sorry," Maris whispered to herself, knowing what she had done would cause irrepareble damage to the sisters' relationship.

With a swish of her hand, the image changed to Lily lying on the sand with a pair of legs as she had wished. She was in such severe pain, which the witch knew would come but did not savour watching, so she washed her hand through the silver pool again to change the image. The final image which came to her was that of the human King and Queen, sitting in their parlour in the early morning.

"The boy needs to marry, Euphemia. I don't want to force it but he hasn't even tried courting a girl," King Fleamont murmured, taking a sip of wine from his goblet.

"You know he won't be happy with this arrangement you've made," the Queen replied sternly. "I don't even approve of it, you must know that."

"I know. I am morally opposed to forcing relationships, you must know. But I've sent a message the King of Lescala requesting his daughter visit at the end of the month. It's not so much forced as it is...meddling."

"James will oppose it even if she's the most witty and beautiful princess in the world if he finds out why she's invited here," the Queen rolled her eyes and leant back in her chair.

"Well in that case, we just won't tell him that he's bethrothed."

And the image in the cauldron faded to black. That was all the fates wanted her to see for now, but the Witch immediately felt a cold slice through her heart. She had sent the girl off on a quest she was almost certainly going to fail. If he was unable to make a marriage proposal to the girl, he would have to sacrifice something as significant as his own life in order for half his soul to transfer to her. That was unlikely, from a human, especially a Prince who likely didn't understand the meaning of true sacrifice.

As a witch she was supposed to remove her feelings from the situation, but she couldn't help feel her stomach drop when she realised that Lily, her favourite mermaid to have visited in years, was likely doomed.

* * *

 _Ohmygoditsher. Oh my god it's her._

His stomach did a flip while a flood of happiness hit him like a train on a track. Coming towards her, she was hidden behind the rocks and was splashing in the shallow water which washed over her as the tide moved up the beach.

Her skin was made up of patterns of dried salt crystals from the sea; white and luminescent in the morning light. Her dark red hair meandered in waves down her back, ending at the top of her hips. She was looking out to sea, watching the peaks of the waves wink at her as they reflected the sunlight. Anyone would be watching the sparkling blue water, but James was watching her reaction to the view, smiling when the edges of her mouth turned up in a beautifully sad expression.

Seeing her he had felt like he was suddenly on the bottom of the ocean, and now he had got over the shock of really actually seeing her, her eyes reminded him to swim. The sinking feeling he had felt all day had all but evaporated until she turned to him; her eyes widened and anchored him to the spot.

She had suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her, and she turned... and there he was. She had spent a significant amount of her time on land, trying to stand and walk and falling on her face. Having given up a while a go, she shuffled forward and was sitting in the shallow waves and paddling her hands in the familiar water.

And just as she was washing some sea water across her upper arm, she had looked up and seen her shipwrecked sailor. She had liked him better in his ragged clothes and his dirty pirate shirt than in these different layers of clothing which confused her eyes. She could see why it was necessary to a certain extent, she was covered in goosebumps up on land, no longer being acclimatised to the chill of the sea. But his silken white shirt, and the grand patterned vest seemed too grandiose for the beach, and for her. She had never worn something so beautiful in her life, had never worn any clothing really, and the thought that he would see her without when he had so much made her look away in embarrassment and hug her knees to her chest.

James realised he had been staring, eyes clinging to her frame like a fish on a line. She thought he was being inappropriate but he had been so in awe of the fact that someone so colourful existed outside of his imagination. And he was staring again... _Crap_.

Lily was still staring adamantly at her toes when she heard the shifting of material to her side. _What in the name of Neptune did he think he was doing?_

Suddenly alarmed she began to scramble backwards across the sand. She prepared to use her legs to run despite the sodding things not bloody well working.

"No! Oh god no, sorry miss," James held his hands up, seeing her panicked and wanting to make it clear her wasn't going to take a step closer if it made her uncomfortable. _You better not, or I'll drag you out to sea and dunk you until you apologise,_ Lily thought.

In one raised hand was his silken shirt, which he threw to her feet and gestured for her to put it on. She was still glaring at him, but her hand slowly moved to thread her arms through the huge sleeves which were tight around the wrists and puffed out along the length of the arm. She pulled it over her torso and unfortunately it stuck to her wet frame, but already she felt better even if not that much warmer.

She looked back up at the boy and saw more of the sailor she recognised from before. His skin was still a dark brown from his time on the ship, and his arms had visibly been tested by the strength of the ocean. He ruffled his hair under her judgemental glare and he became the nervous and goofy man she had dragged up on shore, and she found herself smiling up at him through her dark eyelashes.

His knees almost buckled at the mere sight of the smirk on her lips but he held it together...just.

"Um... Do you want this to cover yourself better?" James murmured, pointing to the thick button up vest hanging off his lower arm.

Had he just gulped? Was he...nervous? The thought made the mermaid grin, and she nodded excitedly as the new found giddiness helped her scramble to her feet and towards him. Just standing up was painful, but she made two determined steps towards him.

It was all going well, until her confidence couldn't carry her any further and her lack of skill in the walking and stepping department became a problem.

Tripping over her own ankles, she fell forward and braced herself to fall flat on her front as she had before, only with the added bonus of humiliating herself in front of Prince James, the human she was supposed to be trying to seduce.

 _Brilliant._

Before she felt herself crash to the floor a pair of hands grasped her round the back, which lowered her slowly down to the sand as James knelt and settled her head on his legs. He brushed her hair out of her face and her skin tingled as his fingertips looped from her forehead and round her ear.

"This is going to be difficult not knowing your name," the Prince was muttering to himself. "Um excuse me Miss?"

Her eyes fluttered open. "I'll take you back to the palace. Is that okay?"

She nodded and pushed her upper body to sit up, resting on her arms and preparing to attempt to stand up again. But she felt his arm around her back and the other under her knees as he lifted her and began walking back along the beach in the morning sun.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzled tiredly into his chest feeling as though she was finally in the right place. The slow rhythm of his steps lulled her to sleep and the pair moved down the beach, all the while the sea moved angrily up the sand as though trying to drag the mermaid back to the depths of the ocean where she and her pair of legs no longer belonged.

* * *

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	5. Fish Out of Water

**The reason this took so long was because I was confused about how to end this, but I'm finally (sort of) satisfied with this so here's the next chapter. If you like this story please remember to follow and leave me a review, even if it's just to tell me to update!**

* * *

"Poke her."

"Peter for Godric's sake have some patience," a second voice said.

"But she's so boring."

"There's _nothing_ about this girl that is boring, Wormtail," a deeper, but still unfamiliar voice murmured.

"She was in a shipwreck! Get your priorities in order you two."

Her eyes remained closed, but as she listened to the darkness it seemed as though there were voices. Very _irritating_ voices, but voices nonetheless…

The dead weight of her limbs and the frustrating feeling of heaviness on her eyelids meant that she felt almost comatose, only able to listen to the fuzzy voices around her through what sounded like a wall of water. The only way she knew she was not under the sea and desperately dreaming of a life on land was the feel of the warm air on her skin. She flexed her toes and though there was a small twinge of pain after moving them, they were there! They were real!

At this new realisation she attempted to jolt into action but there seemed to be a disconnect between her body and her brain. She was only able to feel the smallest twitch in the muscles of her abdomen when attempting to lift herself into a seated position. Maybe she really was dreaming? How cruel it would be to wake up from something so vivid. So real.

But while everything felt lucid underwater, this felt more…groggy. She had a lot of aches, and was very exhausted and with a sudden cramp in her legs she realised _oh my Neptune_ she _had_ taken that potion. She had _legs!_ An image of the Prince carrying her up the beach and away from the cold flashed into her mind, and at the thought she felt a rush of giddiness in her stomach, and a tingling across her skin that made her lips pull into a small, almost unnoticeable smile.

She tried to stretch her arms out to feel the soft downy object she had been sleeping on. The movement only reached her fingers but wriggling life into them, she felt a rush of pin pricks under her skin as blood moved into her hand. A pulse moved its way around her body, from her fingers tips to her arms, and slowly a warm tingle crossed her body. Though she was still unable to will herself to sit up from the velvety cocoon she was wrapped in, she felt a little rush of achievement merely in wriggling her fingers.

"Prongs, I'm sorry but there is no way _she_ voluntarily kissed _you_ ," the deeper voice said, half teasing, half in awe.

"I'm honestly still in shock myself… do you think she'll remember me?" the fourth voice asked quietly.

She recognised _that_ voice. It was the prince's voice. _Her_ prince.

"She was probably concussed. It's the only viable way I can see her deluding herself into kissing you-"

She heard thud a couple of meters away from her bed, and a yelp which sounded an awful lot like the prince had pushed his friend off a chair.

That was enough. She could not stand them talking about her and not being able to say anything in defence of herself… or the prince for that matter. She could move her fingers and probably her arms now. She wiggled her elbows and though it felt like they were being weighed down like an old metal anchor, she could move them. The creaking of her elbows as though they were rusty joints made her face twinge in pain, but she propped herself up slowly.

They were still bickering at the foot of her bed, not noticing as she crinkled her nose at the light. Squinting as she moved to sit up she felt a hot prickling across her forehead while the warmth drained from her cheeks. Sitting upright she finally collapsed back against a headboard lined with pillows and leant her head to the side in exhaustion. She felt feverish. The dark red hairs surrounding her face were sticking to her cheeks in a sweaty sheen and her complexion was flushing red.

For the first time since her transformation she missed the ocean; the cooling touch of the sea surrounding her was the only thing she was conscious of… the only thing she needed. Instead she opened her eyes to four boys staring at her with slack jaws and wide eyes.

Why were they staring? Were they shocked that she was awake? Or perhaps she looked so ill that even the prince though he had carried the wrong girl home?

She opened her mouth to ask why they looked like a shoal of gawping salmon and then realised…

She was mute.

* * *

"I want her in chains!" Poseidon ordered.

He had sent out an order that any citizen with knowledge of Maris' whereabouts should report to the palace immediately. There was an influx of merpeople into the coral gates, who were waiting to be addressed by the King. The crowd was unnerved; they knew he was in such a state of anger that he had forgotten to control the temper of the ocean. Even those born in the sea, with tails powerful enough to bat away the pull of a current with ease could feel the rage of Poseidon. There was a violence in the water which came close to tearing them all apart.

Poseidon turned to open the doors to the balcony where he delivered a speech to the merpeople below, about the dangers of uncontrolled magic and the need to ensure the safety of the kingdom. He announced that evening that sirens would be bringing Maris to justice. The crowd cheered, while Petunia and her sisters sat in silence contemplating the fate of their sister, and the slim chance they would ever see her again.

* * *

After the boys spent a solid, and very embarrassing 15 minutes gesturing to her as though she couldn't see or hear either, they realised that she could understand everything they were saying very well. They worked this out rather slowly, despite the fact she spent the whole time scowling at them. She now sat under the duvet at the head of the bed with her arms crossed as they sat in silence, not quite knowing how to deal with this hurricane of a girl.

Now that she was awake, and finally had some peace, her eyes widened at her surroundings. She was in a palace made of marble. In front of her, there was light streaming in from the doors, which had been opened onto wide stone balconies. A familiar sea breeze wafted around the warm room. There were human things she didn't quite know the use of yet; a strange gizmo that made a ticking sound on the table next to her bed was giving her the creeps. Outside she could hear the swashing of the waves on the beach, and wondered how she was so close to the sea and far enough above it that she could see gulls flying past the open, folded-back doors.

Her quarters were elaborately decorated with tilework, pillows, divans, and hanging from the high ceiling was an object decorated with candles, made up of jewels and draped diamond necklaces. The palace was open, with arches and doors leading to the rest of the castle. It was about as large as her room in her palace, but instead of curtains swaying with the tide at her windows, she saw floating cotton drapes framing the terrace doors.

"Er, miss?" the one with long hair and far too much to say began. She turned her eyes back to him, and saw that like her prince, he was also very handsome. He was warm, but there was a sharpness to his looks that she was unfamiliar with. The ocean created smooth lines and curves and currents. Only above the water could you find jagged rocks like this boy.

His brown forearms were crossed, the warm tone of his skin a stark contrast to the white shirt he hadn't tied together at the top. She nodded for him to go on.

"So you can understand us?"

She nodded again.

"Right, good. So, have you lost a couple teeth? Have we irritated you so much that you refuse to talk to us? Too shy?" the handsome one listed, counting the options on his fingers.

" _Sirius_ ," the prince rolled his eyes.

Lily clenched her fists over the bed sheets.

"So that's a no then…" said the voice who previously offered to poke her, the one they had called Peter. She turned and glared at the fidgety blonde boy.

"Oh come on, Peter really?" the prince sighed in despair, dropping his head in his hands in embarrassment. "Right, well we're going to leave you to rest," James said while ushering them out of the room.

They squabbled under their breath as she watched them leave. Peter claimed he really did nothing and the thin pale boy dragged the other two out by the ears as they protested. James walked to the archway, and stopped as though disorientated.

He felt as though he should stay; she was magnetic and even just looking at her, he felt himself trip over his words. He saw storms in her eyes and waves in her hair and wondered if this is what drowning in someone felt like. He wanted to stay, to talk to her and to know her but she could not speak. The pull in his abdomen followed a line from himself to her, and his eyes found themselves admiring how she was a contrast of colours. The more he looked, the more surreal she seemed. Dark red hair, pale cream skin juxtaposed with black eyelashes and seaweed green eyes that were staring right back at him. He was at a loss.

She saw him swallow and run his hand through his hair. He stood rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down at his shoes, at anything but Lily. She had seen it though; for a second she could see his thoughts become unchained. She might no longer possess her song, but she still had an unnatural beauty which would make any sailor throw himself into a tempest in the hopes of being able to see it just one more time. Now that she was close enough to touch, he was struggling against his human senses and his need to be near her. His body seemed to lean towards her, gravitate towards where she lay.

"I look forward to seeing you at dinner," he said, after clearing his throat. Averting his eyes once again, he fumbled with the large wooden door and stumbled out of her room as though still lost in a fog of sleep.

There was a sinking feeling in her stomach. He was in a trance, and she couldn't help but have that effect. The feelings he thought he felt for her must be artificial; she was a siren for Poseidon's sake, and he was enraptured.

But he did not truly know her… so he could not truly want her.

How could she have convinced herself that he could fall in love with her? Tears began to pool in her eyes, and as they ran down her cheeks, she tasted the ocean. She heard the door close behind him, and thought of her family and the story her grandmother had once told her about the people on land.

* * *

"They love one another so deeply, sweet girl. It's perhaps their biggest flaw." Her grandmother had been brushing her hair when she was younger, her arms frail and translucent. Her sister's found Lily's grandmother grating and cruel. Lily was her favourite, and though she could be cold, she would make extra time to tell the young princess of the world above the water. She had begun braiding the red locks which wafted with the currents of the water, as Lily floated at the merwoman's grey, scaled tail.

"We used to call to them, and their desire used to sink their ships."

Lily turned to face her grandmother, shocked that she was so unfeeling. The older merperson turned the girls head forward and continued plaiting. "Men are unable to resist the _possibility_ of love. Our songs create infatuation and desire. There is not love in our melodies or in our beauty."

Lily remembered asking why they drowned for us then, if they wanted love above all else.

"Any semblance of love is easily confused by humans for the real thing. Infatuation, desire, beauty, intrigue. These things are not true love, Lily," she said as she saw the girl before her become unsettled, confused.

The old merwoman continued, and finished her tale with a final tug at Lily's hair and an icy laugh;

"But men are stupid creatures who sink as easily and as willingly as rocks."

* * *

 **I'll try not to leave such a big gap between updates next time, I'm just a serial procrastinator when it comes to writing. Also, sorry if it's a bit short, but it felt right to stop it here. Follow, fave and review to tell me what you think!**


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